Japan's Ai Fukuhara brushed aside her Russian opponent 4-2 Monday to advance to the second round of the women's singles at the world table tennis championships.
Fukuhara dropped the opening game against Anastasia Voronova 9-11, but came back strong to pick up the next three games to secure a 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 victory on the third day of action during the weeklong event at Shanghai Gymnasium.
Later, Fukuhara and Ai Fujinuma together secured a spot in the third round of the women's doubles, and Fukuhara partnered with Ryusuke Sakamoto to advance to the third round of the mixed doubles with a 4-2 second-round win over the Belgian team of Yannick Vostes and Laurance Junker.